In the course of my normal working day, I collect and save all sorts of information. In the past, I used to carry a notebook and pen but as I've become increasingly digital over the years, I've use my tablet and smartphone more and more.
I use my iPad more than ever but finding apps can be tricky. Most apps are designed for a specific workflow that was conceived by someone with different work habits to me. That's where Bento for iPad (there are iPhone and Mac versions as well) comes in. It lets me create little "apps" of my own.
For example, I have a number of clients that need me to complete timesheets. I created a very simple tool using Bento on my iPad. The entire process took just 15 minutes.
Click to enlarge
Bento works with libraries and collections. A library is really a simple database - the sort of thing you might have done using Excel in the past. However, Bento lets you create a nice form as well that makes it easy to enter data. My form lets me enter the client name, date of the work, start and end times and some notes. The duration automatically calculates using the times.
Filemaker, the company that makes Bento also has a bunch of templates so you don't have to start from scratch and their website has a library of user-created templates that you can download for free.
If you use a Mac, there's a desktop version of Bento ($32) that lets you sync and edit data from your computer to an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. The mobile versions cost $5.49 through the App Store.
